Testing out your five senses with Japanese art and craft at Mitsui Memorial Museum

Needless to say, we use our visual sense to appreciate art in any exhibition. However, in “Enjoying Japanese Art through Our Five Senses,” an exhibition that just kicked off at the Mitsui Memorial Museum in Tokyo, the museum suggests that we bring in the other four basic human senses — touch, hearing, smell and taste — to admire the 70 or so Japanese works of art they have on display.

For instance, the first chapter of the exhibition (“Imagining the Taste”) highlights works of art (including tableware) that will likely appeal to your sense of taste, such as the “Metal Spiny Lobster” (Meiji-early Showa period, 19th-20th century), a jizai okimono (articulated figure) by modern artist Takase Kozan (1869-1934); and the “Dish with Crane and Turtle Design” (Edo period, dated 1789), a saucer with a painting by Edo-period artist Maruyama Okyo (1733-95) on it.

Playful Art and Aesthetic Sense VIII
Enjoying Japanese Art through Our Five Senses

Jul 2 (Tue) – Sep 1 (Sun), 2024

Mitsui Memorial Museum
(Nihonbashi, Tokyo)

*See outline below for details

The must-sees in this exhibition include a black Raku-ware tea bowl known as “Shunkan” (Momoyama period, 16th century) by Chojiro, who created Raku-style tea bowls according to the aesthetics of the great tea master Sen no Rikyu (1522–91), and another black Raku-ware tea bowl named “Amagumo” (Edo period, 17th century) by Edo-period artist Hon’ami Koetsu (1558–1637), both of which are designated important cultural properties of Japan.

The exhibtion runs through Sept. 1, 2024.

(Photos by Kazuki Matsuura)